This, That, and the Other

Jim Adams, our guest host for Song Lyric Sunday chose “laugh/laughter/laughing” as this week’s theme. For better or worse, Jim then proceeded to suggest about a dozen or so songs for us to use for this theme. Not wanting to use one of his suggested songs, I had to think long and hard about a song not on his list for my post. Fortunately for me, one finally came to mind. The Daryl Hall @ John Oates song, “It’s a Laugh.”

Written by Daryl Hall, “It’s a Laugh” was the biggest hit from the duo’s seventh studio album, Along the Red Ledge, which was released in August 1978. “It’s a Laugh” was the biggest hit single on that album, reaching number 20 on the U.S. charts.

The song is one of the more bitter breakup songs of its era. A dumped boyfriend dismisses his relationship with his ex as nothing of significance, even as a joke.

Hall claims that the song is one of his favorite songs that he ever wrote. He said that it is dripping with irony. It was written after he was pretty hurt in a situation, but looking back at it, he said he relates to one particular line that repeats throughout the song. It goes, “It’s so stupid that I gotta laugh.”

Here are the lyrics to “It’s a Laugh.”

You must be thinkin’ something
But you ain’t sayin’ nothing
You remember me
I used to be your boyfriend

There ain’t no point in reason
It only gets defensive
Why should we ruin the purity of the moment

It’s a laugh, what a laugh
It’s so stupid I gotta laugh
And the funny thing is everyone thought
We were forever

It’s a laugh, what a laugh
It’s so stupid that I gotta laugh
And the other thing is I really thought
That we were special

Maybe I should feel guilty
Is that the American way
But I just look at myself
As if I were above me

You must be thinkin’ something
But you ain’t saying nothing
You remember me, I have been here always

It’s a laugh, what a laugh
It’s so stupid I gotta laugh
And the funny thing is everyone thought
We were forever

It’s a laugh, what a laugh
It’s so stupid I gotta laugh
And the other thing is I really thought
We were special, we were forever

It’s a laugh, what a laugh
It’s so stupid I gotta laugh
And the funny thing is everyone thought
We were forever

It’s a laugh, what a laugh
It’s so stupid I gotta laugh
And the other thing is I really thought
That we were special

So strange but it’s a laugh, what a laugh
It’s so stupid I gotta laugh
And the other thing is everyone thought
We were forever